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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Ramblings on Push-ups and Pull-ups

I've attempted this before with varying levels of success and once again I am committing to the 100 Push-up Program. I plan to do an initial exhaustion test tomorrow night and then start the three day a week program on Monday. That would make my three push-up days Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I was performing push-ups pretty regularly during the summer, it's nice when your job gives you the time and strongly encourages you to workout. Lately I've been focusing on other things, but I can't deny that push-ups are an indispensable movement for your entire core. So I'm getting back on track with my push-ups :D I will most likely have a lower starting max number than I have in the past since I'm aiming to get lower at the bottom. I don't think my past push-ups were awful, I've actually had people comment that I did perfect push-ups, but when I video taped them a little over a month ago I definitely thought I could lower a bit more. It's going to be really difficult though, that last bit is where my arms always give out. Anyway we will see tomorrow, my max test will probably be pretty low, but it will be worth it when I'm performing full- range push-ups. I believe I was around 25 during the summer and I've gotten up to the 30's doing the 100 push-ups program in the past.

Briefly on pull-ups, I've NEVER been able to perform 1 pull-up. When I got in good shape 2 years ago I was working on it and I did improve but I just couldn't get past the initial pull from dead hang. I could give myself a baby jump (alright maybe slightly more) and pull from there, but dead hang to pull-up. . . nothing :/ Like I can't even get my arms to bend at all from dead hang. So anyone with advice, tips, exercises to help me overcome this, I'm all ears. I know about greasing the groove and I do all the holding hangs at the top, bottom, middle etc. What else can I do? I desperately want just 1 pull-up (I'll take more if I can get it!) I'm joining Fit to be Fit in her Pull-Up challenge, she's aiming for 10!

*If you haven't entered my iTunes Giftcard Giveaway, you have just over 24 hrs to comment on that post with your favorite workout song(s) for a chance to win :) It ends 10/27 at 11:59 pm.*

3 comments:

Hey, I totally can give you a tip on how to get to being able to do some pull-ups! Prior to last year, I was never able to do 1 pull-up either. I had been working out since the beginning of the year doing DVDs at home, but then I decided I wanted to get a bit stronger, so I started going to the gym and lifting weights three days a week. And one of my goals was to be able to do at least 1 pull-up. At the beginning, I was where you are--couldn't even get my arms to bend. So what I did was I used the assisted pull-up machine, taking some of my weight off, and doing several in a row. I did that three days a week, taking less weight off whenever it was getting too easy. By the fall of last year, I was able to do three pull-ups! It was great. If you don't have access to an assisted pull-up machine, then you can do this with a chair. Just put a chair to the side of your pull-up bar, put one of your legs on the chair, and use your leg as much as you need to assist pulling yourself up. Then when you can do it without a chair, assist by doing a small jump, then you'll eventually get to where you can do them from a dead hang. :)

screwdestiny~ Thanks for your comment, I like to hear about people who went from not being able to do pull-ups to performing multiple ones. I don't go to a gym right now so I don't have an assisted pull-up machine, but I do have a pull-up bar and resistance bands which work great!

Sarah Cox~ Thank you, Fit to be Fit just wrote a post about using resistance bands as well. I tried it 2 days ago and it worked really well, I'm excited to improve!